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Winners

In this month's Around the Kitchen Table, Marci Konecny won a copy of Too Hot to Handle, a Fiona Silk Mystery by Mary Jane Maffini

Deb Forbes is the winner of the Mystery Lovers Kitchen tote bag from this month's Around the Kitchen Table

Congratulations to Autumn Trapani who won a copy of Mary Jane Maffini's TOO HOT TO HANDLE, a Fiona Silk Mystery.

Congratulations to Sharon F, who won a copy of For Cheddar or Worse, A Cheese Shop Mystery.

Congratulations to Marilyn, who has won a copy of Rhys Bowen's ON HER MAJESTY'S FRIGHTFULLY SECRET SERVICE!

Congratulations to MamaHen who won a choice of book from Daryl Wood Gerber aka Avery Aames.

Congratulations to our 7th Anniversary Photo Contest Winners: Jennifer M, Jana B, Erika L, Nancy S, and Lorraine A! Thanks to ALL for participating. What a blast!!! Here's to lots more years for the MLK gang.

Congratulations to Margo B.and Becky (at) Becky's Place who won gift cards for commenting on blogger Cozy Up with Kathy (Kaminski's) guest post.

Congratulations to 33Wynter who has won a copy of SOWED TO DEATH by Peg Cochran.Congratulations to Diane H. (profhollister at gmail dot com) who has won a copy of SOWED TO DEATH by Peg Cochran.Congratulations to Kelly Braun (Gaelicark at yahoo dot com) who has won a copy of No Farm, No Foul by Peg Cochran!Congratulations to Pat D.patdupuy(at)yahoo who has won a copy of SOWED TO DEATH by Peg Cochran

Congratulations to Judy Weaver, who's won a copy of KALE TO THE QUEEN by Nell Hampton (who is also Nancy Parra)!

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Tuesday, September 1, Marc and I will be celebrating the release of our 14th Coffeehouse Mystery Once Upon a Grindin its mass market paperback edition. To help us celebrate, we are delighted to sponsor a fun, little giveaway this week.

Scroll down to the end of this post to find out how to enter to win an autographed copy of our book and a custom-made Coffeehouse Mystery tote bag.

The contest is now over. Thanks to everyone who entered and congrats to the winner, Kathleen Costa!

And now for today's recipe...

"No churn" ice cream appeals to me. It's easy to make, takes little room in my freezer, and does not require reading appliance instructions (huzzah). It's also economical and the way its frozen, in 9 x 5 bread loaf pans, even makes it look like the gelato shops of Italy...

Unfortunately, there is a problem with the most common recipe for "no churn" ice cream, one I have worked to remedy. I'll tell you the specifics of how below. In the meantime, you might be wondering...

Where did this "no churn" idea come from?

Well, I don't think it's a coincidence that the Eagle Brand Condensed Milk label carries the same recipe as the one found on so many foodie blogs and YouTube videos across the internet. And where did the Eagle Brand company chef get the idea? Possibly from an ancient form of ice cream called Kulfi, whichdates back to 16th Century India and is still enjoyed today. Kulfi is made without churning. Cooks boil down milk to a fraction of its original volume, concentrating the sugar and texture-smoothing milk proteins, before chilling.

Fast-forward to the present. While the American market has been dominated by French custard-style ice cream (cream, milk, sugar, and flavorings cooked with eggs or egg yolks before freezing), in recent years, we have seen increasing popularity of "Philadelphia-style" ice cream and a form of Italian Gelato which does not use eggs.

The No Churn Ice Cream recipes I'm sharing with you today borrow from all of these ideas. I hope you enjoy them...

Chocolate, Vanilla, Coffee

Why I Revised the Popular

"No Churn" Ice Cream Recipe

Freezing straight cream will get you a block as hard as ice. Adding sugar lowers the freezing point, and churning introduces air, which keeps the ice crystals small and creates that softer, fluffier texture we enjoy scooped onto cones or heaped into dishes."No churn" ice cream replaces the churningof air into the cream with whippingthe air into the cream before freezing. This does a good job of keeping the end product as soft and fluffy as churned ice cream.

But there's a problem with the most common "no churn" recipe I've seen (i.e., cream + sweetened condensed milk). It produces an ice cream that's far too soft, melts too easily, and leaves a waxy aftertaste on the tongue from too much butterfat. In short, it produces a product like ice cream but not as good.

So I began experimenting with that ubiquitous no churn recipe and have come up with an improved version (IMO, of course). Why is it better? A few reasons...

(1) Adding evaporated milk to the mix before freezing creates a final product that has a much cleaner, more ice-cream-like texture, eliminating that waxy butterfat coating on the tongue. It also...

(2) Allows very fine ice crystals to form, which make the final product colder in the mouth and gives it a more stable form in the dish or on your cone. Finally...

(3) By only whipping the cream until its thickened, rather than until it has "stiff peaks" (as most of the other recipes require), the final product is denser and more like a churned ice cream or gelato.

I'm continuing to experiment with flavors and ratios. If you're an ice cream or gelato lover, I invite you to join the foodie fun.

For today, my experiments have yielded nice results with these recipes. May you mix them with love and eat them with joy!

Directions: Into a bowl, fork-whisk the cocoa powder into the sweetened condensed milk. Set aside.

In a large, chilled metal, glass, or ceramic bowl, beat heavy cream with an electric mixer until thickened. (Do not create whipped cream, simply beat it until it resembles thickened white gravy, as pictured below...)

Add your chocolate sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, and pure vanilla extract. With the mixer on low, blend everything until smooth. Be sure to blend the chocolate all the way through. The mixture should resemble a light chocolate milkshake without any chocolate streaks.

Pour the blended mixture into a 9 x 5 metal loaf pan. Why? Because a metal pan will conduct the cold better than a plastic container. Do not fill the pan to the very top. Here’s why.

You'll need to stretch a sheet of plastic wrap across the top of the pan, keeping the plastic from touching the ice cream itself. Place the pan in the freezer for 8 to 12 hours. By then, the entire pan should be ready to serve and enjoy! To store, you can scoop the ice cream into a re-sealable plastic container, or you can continually re-wrap the metal pan in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn.

Directions: In a chilled metal, glass, or ceramic bowl, beat heavy cream with an electric mixer until thickened. (Do not create whipped cream, simply beat it until it resembles thickened white gravy.) Add the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, pure vanilla extract, and salt. With the mixer on low, blend the mixture well until smooth.

Pour the blended mixture into a 9 x 5 metal loaf pan. Why? Because a metal pan will conduct the cold better than a plastic container. Do not fill the pan to the very top. Here’s why. You'll need to stretch a sheet of plastic wrap across the top of the pan, keeping the plastic from touching the ice cream itself. Place the pan in the freezer for 8 to 12 hours. By then, the entire pan should be ready to serve and enjoy! To store, you can scoop the ice cream into a re-sealable plastic container, or you can continually re-wrap the metal pan in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn.

Directions: In a chilled metal, glass, or ceramic bowl, beat heavy cream with an electric mixer until thickened. (Do not create whipped cream, simply beat it until it resembles thickened white gravy.) Add the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, instant espresso powder, and vanilla. With the mixer on low, blend the mixture well until smooth.

Pour the blended mixture into a 9 x 5 metal loaf pan. Why? Because a metal pan will conduct the cold better than a plastic container. Do not fill the pan to the very top. Here’s why. You'll need to stretch a sheet of plastic wrap across the top of the pan, keeping the plastic from touching the ice cream itself. Place the pan in the freezer for 8 to 12 hours. By then, the entire pan should be ready to serve and enjoy! To store, you can scoop the ice cream into a re-sealable plastic container, or you can continually re-wrap the metal pan in plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn.

*Espresso powder note: In baking and cooking, good quality instant espresso powder produces better flavor than instant coffee or coffee crystals, which is why I recommend using instant espresso instead of instant coffee for your recipes. The brand I use is Medaglia D'oro because it delivers the instant espresso in fine powder form, which dissolves beautifully into batters. All is not lost if you have only instant coffee crystals or your instant espresso brand comes in crystal rather than powder form. For best flavor in those cases, whisk the crystals into a small amount of the evaporated milk until completely dissolved before using in this recipe.